Cape Breton

I’m still enjoying the new job, or at least the discovery process, and I want to write about all aspects of it – good and bad – but as I was reminded at an orientation session today, I should actually be careful what I put on the internet because I am now a “Parks Canada…

This summer, admission to all Parks Canada sites is free. It’s one of many federal initiatives to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Confederation, an anniversary shortened (for flag and hashtag purposes) to “Canada 150.” Never mind that Confederation is only one of numerous treaties and agreements that gradually brought our country together; never mind that…

When it rains, it pours. Cape Breton gave us a week or so of decent weather — that is, some clouds, some rain, or some wind, but not all at once — but apres ca, le deluge. For a week now, it’s been unrelenting, and the damp has dampened the excitement of our homecoming. Weather…

The potluck is at S’s boss’s house. The house used to belong to a different colleague, a fact which reflects the two-tiered world of Cape Breton: the academic haves trade resources – projects, homes – while the local-born blue-collars cling to a shrinking raft. But the neighbourhood kids don’t distinguish; they have invaded the potluck,…

Last day in Edmonton; last coffee shop stop. Iconoclast Koffeehuis is every bit as pretentious as it sounds, but it’s the scrappy, warts-and-all pretention I mostly enjoy. It occupies a cavernous warehouse space that would fit three Second Cup locations, yet there are maybe 10 tables in all, and hardly any décor save for three…

An open letter to Cape Breton Regional Municipality’s Mayor and City Council, regarding the future of arts funding in CBRM: The arts are inarguably key to Cape Breton’s tourist-based economy. They are also intrinsic in raising Capers’ quality of living, even in times of economic recession. The arts provide links to personal and cultural heritage;…

“And I’m goin’ down the road, boys Seeking what I’m owed, boys And I know it must get better If far enough I go” In less than two weeks, we’ll be getting on the first of so many planes, and when the lobster-claw shape of Cape Breton Island recedes behind us, it will be last…